I secretly/not-so-secretly love celebrities...

I have a guilty pleasure. I love following the lives and careers of celebrities. My husband doesn't get it. He's like, "you don't know these people...why do you care?" But I can't help it. It gives me pleasure to read about their lives - even if what I'm reading has zero basis in reality.

In my defense, I don't follow every celebrity. I don't buy People magazine or read PerezHilton.com. I don't care a hoot about the Kardashians (nor do I have any idea of why they're actually famous); but, I do search Taylor Swift in Google news almost daily, just to see what she's up to. I follow a few celebrities on Instagram: Taylor Swift (obvi), Selena Gomez (mostly for the Taylor Swift updates), Calvin Harris, Lena Dunham, Kacey Musgraves, Rebel Wilson, Amy Schumer, Neil Patrick Harris, and Drew Barrymore. My Youtube "suggested for you" content is almost exclusively interviews on late night talk shows with the above mentioned celebrities plus Jennifer Lawrence, Emily Blunt and Tina Fey.

I'm not sure why I care, or why I find their posts or what they have to say interesting. I just do.

So when one of the celebrities I pseudo-stalk writes a book about her/his life - I will read it.

During my sick week in bed, I tackled Drew Barrymore's book Wildflower. It was an easy, fun, engaging read and really humanizing of her "celeb" status and made her just seem like a normal person that I could be friends with.

I found myself feeling very sad though as I read her stories. She's had so many ups and downs in life and has really conquered a lot of crazy $h!t. And it really seemed from her writing that she is in a good place now - she has a loving family, dogs, a creative and challenging job - all things that make her really happy. And then, Facebook told me that trending now was her announcement about her divorce. I just felt really sad for her. I could dissect her book and find evidence of her unhappy marriage between the lines - but what the hell, I don't even know her. I have no idea, really, what her life is like, the problems. I just feel a sense of loss for her, because her book published in December, made it seem like things were finally going right for her - and she so deserved a happy ending. And now, no happy ending.

Is it weird to care that Drew Barrymore is getting divorced? I don't think so. I like to think that I'd empathize with anyone going through heartbreak, whether I know them or not; and that my ability to empathize with others is one of my better qualities.

Blogger Mary Carver brought up some really good points in her article for ForEveryMom.com. She wrote,

 "I think it’s a good sign for marriage if the end of one breaks our hearts. Even if we are a little starry-eyed and impractical in our longing for “happily ever after,” the importance we place on marriage – both the ones we know personally and the ones we see from afar – is a good thing. It means we care, that we haven’t given up, that we value marriage itself. [emphasis mine]

It also means we’re longing for role models, for evidence that marriage can last, that happy marriages aren’t fantasy. So instead of peeking at the pictures on the magazines as we stand in line at the grocery store, why not search out an older couple at church? Spend time with them as friends and let them mentor you. Learn from their lives together, from the way they have fought for their marriage over decades.

And maybe, instead of winding down with E! News or your favorite entertainment site tonight, take a few minutes to connect with your spouse. Spend time focusing on your own marriage. Don’t drift apart. Put each other first. Keep learning what makes the other one tick. Dream together. Laugh together. Maybe watch a movie together."

Good advice Mary. Good advice.